My training goal for Saturday was a 60 mile loop from Norwood, then later in the day 14 miles back to Kenmore Square. Besides general inertia and a lack of time, a disincentive to ride a long distance for me is a lack of novelty of the route. I have done a lot of training over the entire Metro Boston area for several years, so many routes are too familiar but the region is so diverse that a novel and interesting route can always be found.

Yesterday morning, I decided to ride from Norwood to Westborough. I was going to go through Dover and Sherborn to the heavy-black-line road of Rte 16 to Wellesley, to the heavy black line of Rte 135. Looking more closely at the map I then decided to instead take the thin gray lines from Sherborn Center, of Maple St to Whitney, on to Ashland, and then Pleasant St. to Cordaville and Southville, then on to Westborough.

Jim, that sounds like a great ride! I know what you mean about novelty getting harder to find... but it's so rewarding when found!

Metro Bostonians have mastered a lot of the same roads.
We all have very individual, favorite routes. I bet we could compile a list of favorite sections of roads where the sun, shade, swoops and turns fly by just right.

From this forum, we could rate roads with traffic and without, swoops, trails, water fountains, hill climbs, stops, historical, flora, fauna, mysterious tourists and places where they sell fig newtons.

Originally Posted by rholland1951

I've been thinking similar thoughts. Currently puzzling out how best to do that with the tools that the forum software provides, with enough simplicity to make it sustainable...

rod

Originally Posted by jimmuller

I'd love to have a reasonable database that qualifies roads as good for biking or not. I know there is Google maps and similar, but I never know how much to trust.

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

My favorite route planner is the AAA Metropolitan road map. It covers from the Coast to beyond I-495 to the West, Southern New Hampshire to the North and a bit of Rhode Island to the South, essentially a one day loop from Kenmore Square or Norwood.

The map scale is reasonable to show nice back roads yet large enough to plot an entire loop. The various road types are nicely colored to approximate the amount of traffic they carry. I then may identify various short, more intricate sub-routes on a loop from Mapquest. I draw concentric arcs from Kenmore or Norwood (on different maps) at five or ten mile intervals to estimate distances to satisfy my training goals.

I consider myself a "cartographile." Nonetheless almost every road is a good road if you ride it early enough in the day.

Sounds like you guys would probably be interested in the app a friend of mine has been working on...here's the website for it - there's a Facebook page, as well: http://veloveloofficial.appspot.com/

Sounds like you guys would probably be interested in the app a friend of mine has been working on...here's the website for it - there's a Facebook page, as well: http://veloveloofficial.appspot.com/

Will have to check it out. Thanks!

Today was another chapter in the Every Day's an Adventure story. We took the tandem out again, of course. I wanted to do a "recovery" ride, not as far or aggressive as yesterday. We ended up with 38.68 miles, with an avg speed 13.8mph, one of the highest we've ever recorded. Not sure why, but it may have been partly because I've been keeping us on the big chainring as Sharon prefers and partly because we were hammering up and down Lowell Rd between Concord and Carlisle for major stretches instead of running the more hilly back roads. Just to do something different, you know. Plus we avoided the Bruce Freeman.

We met a bunch of interesting folks. Had a nice conversation over lunch at Fern's with folks who have run and intend to run again this year the PMC. Then met some folks with a daVinci tandem having lunch in front of the Carlisle library, so we had to talk to them. The cyclist community really is quite special.

But the day had its own adventures. We got an early (for us) start. The fun started with Sharon wondering about a slight tweak to her saddle. As I was tightening it up at Depot Park one of the bolts snapped. Dang. Now where will I find a metric carriage bolt at 9AM on Sunday? Called Ride Studio but they probably didn't have anything like that. Ah, Home Depot! And they'll be open. Quick run down 128. I didn't find a carriage bolt but I did find a hex-head of the right size which fit nicely. And a 10mm wrench (you can never have enough 10mm wrenches ). 45 minutes later we're finally on the road.

The next adventure was of the insect variety. A mile after that nice lunch at Fern's we were doing a roundabout way northward when something stung my inner thigh through my clothes. Ouch. Fortunately I have no reaction to bee or wasp stings other than pain. So we continued our loop up to Heart Pond. Had a nice conversation with a couple who asked about riding a tandem, how it was different from riding a solo bike. (Now that's a whole conversation all by itself.) Eventually we departed for Bedford, had a pleasant ride back.

I noodled with a Sherborn expatriot living in East Greenwich, RI out to Wickford, RI. Beautiful scenery with nice views of water, farms and shady roads. A Nice new rail trail in Quonset Point development of the old Naval air station. Pretty flat, sections of highway riding to connect Goddard Park to North Kingstown and a pleasant day.

I'm so biased but I like Metro Boston.

Life is like riding a bicycle. In order to keep your balance, you must keep moving. ~Albert Einstein

Rolled out to Lexington and back on the Minuteman, the usual 10 miles at what has become the usual time lately, just before 7. Lots of the regulars out, but also some irregulars, particularly a delightful procession of freak-bikes, over half a dozen: love the mechanical whimsy and the general good humor of that crowd. They were past in a flash, no time for a picture.

The suspended pyramid is gone now, but from another tree now hangs a suspended egg, made of lengths of some flexible natural material, perhaps sections of a woody vine, lashed together. The curvilinear elements must have taken a bit of doing to design and execute. The suspension was not quite right for the torsion-pendulum effect seen with the last one, but it rocked gently in the breeze. Somebody's on a gentle roll with this stuff, bravo!

... Besides general inertia and a lack of time, a disincentive to ride a long distance for me is a lack of novelty of the route. I have done a lot of training over the entire Metro Boston area for several years, so many routes are too familiar but the region is so diverse that a novel and interesting route can always be found.

Originally Posted by rholland1951

…I know what you mean about novelty getting harder to find... but it's so rewarding when found!

Most of my cycling is commuting to work, even including some of my Saturday long training rides, so that is motivation in and of itself. Even then, I have various routes to select depending on which seems the most “novel” for that day. Over the years, there have been a few threads on various Forums addressing the issue of “boredom” or perhaps better, “ennui.” I don't recall any of the proposed solutions that have helped me, though I have contributed my remedy as described below.

Most of my routes end in a common four-mile segment, which I have ridden for years. One would think that riding a bicycle is such an intimate way to familiarize with the neighborhood. Yet I am always surprised when I drive the route, particularly as a passenger, to notice little details I have not seen over the years. I think it's because I focus so intensely on the Road surface, and the immediate proximity, whereas when driving I can look farther afield. So when I find myself bored en route, I try to keep my head up higher, and within reason, look farther afield for novel sights.

From the above preceding post and others, rod, I'd say you do have an eye for novelty as attested by your photographs.

...Today was another chapter in the Every Day's an Adventure story. We took the tandem out again, of course. I wanted to do a "recovery" ride, not as far or aggressive as yesterday. We ended up with 38.68 miles, with an avg speed 13.8mph, one of the highest we've ever recorded. Not sure why, but it may have been partly because I've been keeping us on the big chainring as Sharon prefers and partly because we were hammering up and down Lowell Rd between Concord and Carlisle for major stretches instead of running the more hilly back roads. Just to do something different, you know. Plus we avoided the Bruce Freeman.

We met a bunch of interesting folks. Had a nice conversation over lunch at Fern's with folks who have run and intend to run again this year the PMC. Then met some folks with a daVinci tandem having lunch in front of the Carlisle library, so we had to talk to them. The cyclist community really is quite special.

But the day had its own adventures. We got an early (for us) start. The fun started with Sharon wondering about a slight tweak to her saddle. As I was tightening it up at Depot Park one of the bolts snapped. Dang. Now where will I find a metric carriage bolt at 9AM on Sunday? Called Ride Studio but they probably didn't have anything like that. Ah, Home Depot! And they'll be open. Quick run down 128. I didn't find a carriage bolt but I did find a hex-head of the right size which fit nicely. And a 10mm wrench (you can never have enough 10mm wrenches ). 45 minutes later we're finally on the road.

The next adventure was of the insect variety. A mile after that nice lunch at Fern's we were doing a roundabout way northward when something stung my inner thigh through my clothes. Ouch. Fortunately I have no reaction to bee or wasp stings other than pain. So we continued our loop up to Heart Pond. Had a nice conversation with a couple who asked about riding a tandem, how it was different from riding a solo bike. (Now that's a whole conversation all by itself.) Eventually we departed for Bedford, had a pleasant ride back.

Hi Jim,

I've never ridden a tandem, nor have I ever read the Tandem Cycling Forum (though I have ridden a quadricyle with a fringe on top in Toronto, with my sweetie, Sharon). Do you post on that Forum?

BTW, though I don't usually read the sticky thread on the Fifty-Plus Forum, “did you ride today,” I did happen to note your pithy description of the above ride:

I've never ridden a tandem, nor have I ever read the Tandem Cycling Forum (though I have ridden a quadricyle with a fringe on top in Toronto, with my sweetie, Sharon). Do you post on that Forum?

Riding with one's sweetie is quite nice! We've never ridden with fringe though. Yes I do post in the Tandem forum occasionally. They tend to be very equipment-focused. All my bikes, including the '82 tandem, are vintage so they never pay it much attention, and I don't have much to offer over there. However one member, zonatandem, is always incredibly supportiv of everyone.

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

BTW, though I don't usually read the sticky thread on the Fifty-Plus Forum, “did you ride today,” I did happen to note your pithy description of the above ride:

Yes, well, you see, I always find the typical ride report over there to be amusingly short and colorless. Just strava links or mileages or total elevation gained. Or all three. My minimalist attempt at irony is most certainly lost.

Most of my posts go into C&V, frequently into Where'd You Ride Today [New and Improved]. I've learned a lot from that forum, and through their enabling have acquired more bikes than I can ever wear out. MetroBoston and C&V keep me sane!

Most of my cycling is commuting to work, even including some of my Saturday long training rides, so that is motivation in and of itself. Even then, I have various routes to select depending on which seems the most “novel” for that day. Over the years, there have been a few threads on various Forums addressing the issue of “boredom” or perhaps better, “ennui.” I don't recall any of the proposed solutions that have helped me, though I have contributed my remedy as described below.

Most of my routes end in a common four-mile segment, which I have ridden for years. One would think that riding a bicycle is such an intimate way to familiarize with the neighborhood. Yet I am always surprised when I drive the route, particularly as a passenger, to notice little details I have not seen over the years. I think it's because I focus so intensely on the Road surface, and the immediate proximity, whereas when driving I can look farther afield. So when I find myself bored en route, I try to keep my head up higher, and within reason, look farther afield for novel sights.

From the above preceding post and others, rod, I'd say you do have an eye for novelty as attested by your photographs.

I find that the routes that I do repeatedly sometimes disappear, the background fades, and what remains are the differences: things people, animals, or plants are doing, seasonal or weather-related variations, transient tricks of the light, etc. Sometimes everything fades, and my mental contents predominates: in other words, I wool-gather. Sometimes there's nothing but the spin...

Whereas, with a ride on a new route, there's so much to notice, a flood of novelty, a voyage of exploration. While I enjoy riding on familiar ground (I'd better, given how much of it I do), I prize rides on new routes.

Bike MS Cape Cod Getaway was absolutely wonderful.
Picture perfect weather.
A challenging but doable two day ride.
A large (2,000+) but not overwhelming number of riders who were wonderful to ride with.
Great logistics and support, fantastic volunteers.
And it supports a cause with a personal connection.

Saturday morning started early, left the house at 5:45 and rode to the start at UMASS Boston.

The teams rolled off first, and we got rolling behind the last of the teams at 8:05.

For the first hour, we were riding the coastline (with some inland diversions) of the inner harbor, then on to Marshfield, first lunch in Duxbury, Plymouth to Buzzards Bay and then the finish at the Mass Maritime Academy.

The afternoon events included showers, second lunch, beer, dinner, and my friend led us on his traditional short walk to a biker bar for one last beer before crashing early.

Sunday morning started off even earlier, with breakfast at 4:15, and we rolled off at 5:08, over the Bourne Bridge and along the Cape Cod Canal as the sun was rising. (More captures will have to wait, but this one might be tough to beat anyway....)

Then uphill to Sandwich, and roller after roller after roller, no single hill all that large but a lot of climbing all things considered.

Took to the access road along Route 6, then crossed over to Barnstable, through Yarmouth, crossed over again to North Harwich, hopped on to the CCRT at Black's Pond, then on to first lunch at 8:30 in Brewster.

From Brewster we road the CCRT until the break in the path, then back to roads and stayed on the bay side through North Eastham, then flipped to the seashore side at South Wellfleet.

On to 6 at Wellfleet fire station (this stretch on 6 my least favorite part of the ride), then off 6 at Ryder Pond (yeah!) until we rejoined 6 at Truro.

Finally 6 all the way to Provincetown, with the cycling god's favoring us with a cross wind to tailwind for the last stretch.

The finish was wonderful, showered and changed, then walked into Provincetown, listened to some jazz and watched the end of the Mexico/Netherlands match. Had a great second lunch, then an awesome ferry home.

I readily accepted the gracious offer to put my bicycle in my friend's car for the last leg back to home.

Rode my 8 mile commute home without much issue today (which I was probably too proud of, given the heat). Interestingly enough, it seems that traffic on the path next to Lynn Shore Drive depends on the tides. High tide, the beach disappears and more foot traffic is on the path. Low tide, and there's 40 feet of beach for people to walk on instead.

… I have ridden a quadricyle with a fringe on top in Toronto, with my sweetie, Sharon…

Originally Posted by jimmuller

…Riding with one's sweetie is quite nice …

Actually, my Sharon’s current nickname is St. Sharon, bestowed upon her by the people where I work. I wonder why?

Originally Posted by rholland1951

I find that the routes that I do repeatedly sometimes disappear, the background fades, and what remains are the differences: things people, animals, or plants are doing, seasonal or weather-related variations, transient tricks of the light, etc. Sometimes everything fades, and my mental contents predominates: in other words, I wool-gather. Sometimes there's nothing but the spin...

Thanks for the advice. I guess contemplation does add “novelty” to any route. I have noticed that sometimes I can recall what I was thinking about at certain segments of some rides, often years later. I'll start noticing those subtle aspects such as weather and lighting that make every ride unique.

Originally Posted by mr_bill

Well, this ride *started* in Metro Boston.

Bike MS Cape Cod Getaway was absolutely wonderful.
Picture perfect weather.
A challenging but doable two day ride.
A large (2,000+) but not overwhelming number of riders who were wonderful to ride with.
Great logistics and support, fantastic volunteers.
And it supports a cause with a personal connection.

Nice ride description. I have only ridden from Boston to Wood’s Hole, but Boston to P-town (especially in one day) is a perennial destination in my mind. How far was the ride from home to the starting point?

It’s nice that you had a personal connection to the Charity. I occasionally ride the Rodman Ride for Kids out of Foxboro in September; and I am frequently asked, as a “serious cyclist” if I ride the PMC. The RRK is for various children's social agencies, and I personally know Don Rodman as an admirable philanthropist.

Nonetheless, the fundraising for these rides is a daunting challenge, and usually I make the (minimum) donation to the RRK, or smaller rides, entirely by myself. Personally I am quite familiar with one children’s social agency, and I would be inclined to make a “whopping” directed donation to ride the RRK if that agency were under Rodman’s umbrella, and I have twice urged them to do so. (I do donate well to that agency but riding the RRK would be a further nice perk.)

Rode my 8 mile commute home without much issue today (which I was probably too proud of, given the heat). Interestingly enough, it seems that traffic on the path next to Lynn Shore Drive depends on the tides. High tide, the beach disappears and more foot traffic is on the path. Low tide, and there's 40 feet of beach for people to walk on instead.

Also, congratulations mr_bill. Quite the accomplishment.

DBrim, welcome to the Metro-boston forum.

I hear ya' about Lynn Shore Drive. Some nice riding in that area, especially in through Nahant, Swampscott, and Marblehead. Spent a lot of time riding along there when I lived in Danvers. The ride up to Cape Ann along Rt.127 is also a nice ride. Did that ride often when i worked in Gloucester. I teach in Salem one day a week. Still comptemplating making the commute by bike from Belmont.

I find that the routes that I do repeatedly sometimes disappear, the background fades, and what remains are the differences: things people, animals, or plants are doing, seasonal or weather-related variations, transient tricks of the light, etc. Sometimes everything fades, and my mental contents predominates: in other words, I wool-gather. Sometimes there's nothing but the spin...

Whereas, with a ride on a new route, there's so much to notice, a flood of novelty, a voyage of exploration. While I enjoy riding on familiar ground (I'd better, given how much of it I do), I prize rides on new routes.

rod

JfB and Rod have
1. hit a sore subject
2. the nail on the head
3. another MetroBoston topic
4. other

Commuting, errands and general transportation are givens that depend on weather and what I need to carry and I always have positive reinforcement of being freshened up compared to a car or truck ride.

Fitness and health goals take more effort.
Sometimes I depend on the same old route. I know everything about it and know I can and will do it. Like an old friend I confide conditions of mind and body without talking, just by moving. I can trust it will be there and I can push or not push and it will adjust and respond. Little changes like a dog barking, a tree limb, weather or pavement are interesting and the equivalent of small talk chitchat.

Sometimes I need something new and plan a different route and sometimes I wander. Wander is best when I'm in great shape and have lots of time. Lately wander means piecing together know roads I've not been on in years.

Most consistently when I'm fit motivation is easiest logging mileage goals and time on set routes works. When less fit, committing to a ride with someone else gets me going.

A sore back inspires mixing in shorter rides hunting historical markers (how many Tercentenary Commission markers can I find?), statues, fascinating museums, utilities (Deer Island), comparing ours to their trails and routes (just back from Narragansett Bay Quonset Point Trail) and of course, food destinations.

Life is like riding a bicycle. In order to keep your balance, you must keep moving. ~Albert Einstein

I've been doing my commute. Traffic has been light but this afternoon drivers were a bit frenetic. My legs were really tired yesterday from this weekend's tandem rides so with t-storms forecast for today I'd planned to rest and drive to work. But they changed the forecast to be sunny today and t-stormy tomorrow, so I'll drive tomorrow instead. Could've used the rest today though.

Saw a flock of turkeys in someone's front yard in Woburn yesterday, the avian variety.